Mayor Condon unveils how he will improve the Police...

Although the final verdict is not in yet, Mayor David Condon believes he has a plan improving the public's image of the Spokane Police Department. Yesterday he went public with his Police Action Plan.

The key components to this plan are:

Oversight:The city believes open, transparent and accountable government works best for the citizens of Spokane.

Community Involvement:Community involvement is a key element to an improved relationship between citizens and the Police Department.

Training:Additional areas of training and possible changes to existing training will improve the quality of and confidence in law enforcement.

Enhanced Delivery of Service:By improving the delivery of services, including data collection, the Police Department can improve accountability and public confidence.

While I am a great believer in the democratic process, I do not necessarily believe the voters always get what they expected once the elections are complete. Sometimes, such as these, the voters either do not fully understand what is being said, or are being misled as to the intentions of the newly-elected officials. Here are some examples of the Police Action Plan that perhaps neither Mayor Condon nor Acting Chief Scott Stephens ever thought of when they wheeled out this plan:

While they ostensibly believe open, transparent and accountable government works best for Spokane's citizenry, they should also apply the tenets of openness, transparency and accountability to the shadow figure of the Police Guild. Perhaps other citizens would feel more at ease.

Improving the relationship between the citizens and the Police Department requires inherent trust on the part of the citizens. However, saying it doesn't make it so.

Changing or improving the training given to police will improve the quality and confidence in the police. This, too, will take time.

The improvement of the delivery of services, including data collection, could improve accountability and public confidence. Eliminating the abhorrent and repulsive behavior of certain past transgressions might help improve public confidence. The Chief, the Mayor and the Prosecutor could start by eliminating Rocky Treppiedi as a Assistant Prosecutor.

In the meantime we will wait and see what elements of the Police Action Plan are addressed and/or completed and in what order.